From the forgotton to the ridiculous

"They'd have been better spending the money doing up houses."A GLASGOW tower block is set for worldwide fame as the colourful star of a new TV advert.

The empty multi-storey high rise in Queen's Court, Toryglen, will have thousands of gallons of paint blasted across it by fireworks as part of a multi-million pound campaign for Sony's high definition Bravia LCD TV.

The first Bravia television advert featured 250,000 coloured balls bouncing down a street in San Francisco.

It was set to a song called Heartbeats by Jose Gonzalez, which went on to become a big hit.

The high-rise has already been rigged up for the blasts and surrounding houses have been covered with huge tarpaulins.

Today giant cranes were moved into the area.

Ironically, anyone hoping to see the site where the advert was filmed will be disappointed as the building will have been demolished before the advert is shown.

Top director Jonathan Glazer is directing the new advert which should be aired by the end of the year.

Shooting was meant to start yesterday but was delayed for 24 hours because of worries about rain showers. It is not known what music has been chosen to accompany the film.

Preview filming started today ahead of the 'big bang' which is expected to take place around 6pm tomorrow.

Glasgow was selected after an international search for a location. The filmmakers, led by award-winning director Glazer, were looking for a giant building they could use to demonstrate the realistic colours displayed on the TV.

A spokeswoman for the electronics giant said: "We needed a building with a lot of space and greenery around it and not just any old building. When we considered Glasgow the decision came really quickly because we are such a well developed creative industry that is really geared up to helping filmmakers.

"We've had phenomenal support from the Glasgow Housing Association and the council has been a great help making everything very easy. Glasgow has everything you need for filming."

Local company Mallinson TV Productions is working closely with London agency Sallon on the campaign. Not all locals were impressed. One man said: "They've gone from San Francisco to Glasgow's Bronx.

"They've even put curtains in the windows to make it look like people are still living there and the council have finally got around to cleaning the place up.

"They'd be better spending the money doing up houses."

But Scott Hussain, 25, from Fairdeal grocers, said: "They've treated people really well and almost everybody is really excited about it. It's nice to see lots of friendly faces around and they've promised to clear up afterwards."

A local mum whose house is next to Queen's Court said: "It's a bit of a carry on but it's a great laugh.

"They've put a big tent over my house, although you can see through it, to stop the paint getting on it but the kids think it's a laugh.

"The company have also been running clubs for the kids during the day and in the evening.

"All the people who have been disrupted are getting taken to the seaside and there's a big disco in the community centre tomorrow night. Everybody is going to be there and we're all looking forward to it."

Glasgow Housing Association manager Margaret Brittain said: "We are thrilled that Sony has chosen Glasgow to shoot its latest Bravia advert."

Sony plans to publish regular video diaries from the Glasgow set during every stage of the shoot.

21/07/06